Contents

Definition

A level bust is defined as: Any unauthorised vertical deviation of more than 300 feet from an ATC flight clearance.
Within RVSM airspace this limit is reduced to 200 feet.(EUROCONTROL - HEIDI)

Definitions applied by other organisations are similar but sometimes refer to a deviation of 300 feet or more.

The level bust issue only relates to aircraft in controlled airspace or a designated ATZ outside controlled airspace and under either radar or procedural ATC control.

Description

A level bust occurs when an aircraft fails to fly at the level to which it has been cleared, regardless of whether actual loss of separation from other aircraft or the ground results. Level busts are also known as Altitude Deviations.

Level busts are becoming less dangerous because improvements in technology such as better STCA and Mode S have improved the ability of controllers to safely manage any consequent loss of separation. Furthermore, the availability and proper use of ACAS provides a final safety net which significantly reduces the risk of a Mid-Air Collision, and TAWS has also reduced the risk of a level bust resulting in a CFIT accident.

The move to Flexible Use Airspace (FUA), the absence of ACAS on many military aircraft and the high performance of many military jet aircraft, means that the consequences of level busts involving military aircraft are more difficult to manage.

A potential loss of separation resulting from the ATCO assigning an inappropriate altitude or flight level in a flight clearance does not constitute a level bust because no deviation from the flight clearance occurs; however for completeness, examples of situations in which the action of the ATCO could contribute to a level bust are listed in this article.

Types of Level Bust

The following types exclude involuntary transient departure from acquired levels attributable to the effects of turbulence.

aircraft both accepts a clearance and sets/records it correctly but then does not follow it [flight management error (usual) or technical fault(rarely)]

aircraft accepts a clearance correctly but then sets it incorrectly without the error being picked up by the crew [flight management error]

aircraft reads back clearance incorrectly and this error is not picked up by ATC so it is then recorded/set and followed [ATC error]

aircraft is unable to react fast enough to a late reclearance and passes through new cleared level [ATC error]. See the scenarios in the separate article Level Bust - ATCO Induced Situations.

Injury, especially to cabin crew or passengers, occasioned by violent manoeuvres to avoid collision with other aircraft or the ground.

Defences

Standard Operating Procedures, both on the flight deck and in the ATCU, which detail procedures to be followed to reduce the chance of level bust.

Flight deck routines on Multicrew aircraft should include rigorous procedures for cross-checking/confirming cleared altitude, readback, and altitude set on FMS by the monitoring crew members, and include callouts, such as "1000 feet to go" and "approaching level".

Onboard aircraft equipment designed to warn of potential collision with other aircraft (ACAS/TCAS) or with the ground (GPWS or EGPWS).

Ground-based equipment designed to warn of potential collision with other aircraft, such as STCA, or provide more information on intentions of the aircraft (e.g. Mode S)

One pilot is off frequency when clearance is given by ATC; although it is read back correctly he/she mis-sets it on the FMS.

PNF fails to spot that PF has set FL110 on the FMS not the FL100 that PNF has (correctly) read back to ATC.

Flight crew used to a 6000ft Transition Altitude/Level set up a SID for a departure from an airport which has a 3000ft Transition Altitude and then fail, with a low barometric pressure, to change to standard pressure setting (1013) quickly enough.

Uncertainty between two flight crew about a clearance given is resolved by reading back what they think it was to see if ATC then correct them. ATC don’t notice and it is not correct. [ATC hear-back error but flight crew should have asked for the clearance again not guessed it]

A military fast jet without ACAS but with SSR Mode C/S exceeds its correctly acknowledged climb clearance and very rapidly causes multiple civil transport RA sequences at three different successive flight levels which, because of the fast-jet's rate of climb, all consist of RAs which change too quickly to be capable of being actioned.

the pilot understands and reads back the correct altitude or flight level but selects an incorrect altitude or flight level because of confusion of numbers with another element of the message (e.g. speed, heading or flight number), Expectation of another altitude or flight level, or Interruption or Distraction. [proper cross checking procedures on a multicrew flight deck should mitigate against these]

Further Reading

EUROCONTROL

EUROCONTROL has produced a wide range of valuable material raising awareness of, and addresssing the causes of, the Level Bust issue, including Safety Letters, an important series of briefing notes (also part of the Level Bust Toolkit), a number of articles in HindSight Magazine, an Action Plan, Posters and more. For a complete list of material available on the SKYbrary Bookshelf, see the article Level Bust Products.